Need to replace car, so many options not sure whats best. Buy new, used, or lease?A few questions

macman

mickym said:

As this is my first way of doing these things it's all new to me and discovering best options. 

What is the regular term for a car loan? Reason for choosing 7 was to keep repayments low. I could make the term a bit shorter. 

The monthly amount on a 7 year loan will of course be much lower than on a 3 or 4 year one, but the total interest paid, and so the total cost of the loan, will be much higher. What mattrs is the total cost of the loan, not the monthly repayments.
If you only have less than £4k in your budget, (so maybe just £3k?) then you need to buy used, privately, because a dealer will need to make a fixed profit of £750 to £1,000, so the actual vale of your purchase will be nearer £2000. This is by far the cheapest way of replacing your car, and you won't have any depreciation hit at that and of the market.
You really don't want to be still paying a loan on a car 7 years after purchase, when you probably no longer even own it. It's not an appreciating asset: quite the opposite. A new car will lose up to 50% of it's value within the first three years.

macman

mickym said:

Isn't it common for a car loan to exceed the warranty duration? 

3 to 4 years is a typical loan or PCP. The minimum warranty on a new vehicle is 3 years, but many brands offer 5, 7 or 8 years (mainly Japanese or Korean).
Your worries about warranty or MOT are unfounded: you shouldn't be having any major issues on a 3 year old vehicle, especially given the very limited mileage you indicate you'll be doing.

mickym

The car is up for £12k (C3 Aircross 2019 27k 1 year warranty). 

What would be a realistic price to negotiate for it?

theoretica

mickym said:

If I got a 7 year loan I'd be paying £190ish a month compared to £260ish pm for the lease.

If you are considering a lease at 260pm I would say also look at how short a loan term you could get if you paid 260pm - like for like.  Maybe 4 years?  Then, assuming the car hadn't died, you continue making those payments into the pot for when it next needs replacing (and for repairs) so you are in a better situation when you next need to replace the car.

Bigphil1474

OP, if you use the money you have for a car, then consider a loan for the home repairs should they be needed. You may get a better loan rate for home repairs against a car.

mickym

Bigphil1474 said:

OP, if you use the money you have for a car, then consider a loan for the home repairs should they be needed. You may get a better loan rate for home repairs against a car.

I was actually wondering about that. 

I have £4k in savings. Roofing work has yet to be assessed and im concerned about any hidden surprises that would make it very costly.

We do have a mortgage with YBS on our property (some details):

£77,000 outstanding (£530pm at 1.99%)
14 years remaining
Current LTV 26%

Before cost of living went up it had been our intention to try to overpay the above. 

Will a mortgage lender be dificult extending mortgage or offering loan for roof repairs? Thats why I wondered if it would have been better to use savings on the roof repairs and loan to fund a car.

I recently did a financial overhaul and cut down on broadband and insurance bills to try and reduce costs which has helped me claw some monthly outgoings back to try and fund a replacement car.
I also currently pay a fortune in petrol for our current car that is running inefficiently due to current issues with it.

Goudy

mickym said:

im concerned about any hidden surprises that would make it very costly.

That's the thing with everything in life, surprises!

As I mentioned before, PCP on a car isn't perhaps the cheapest way to buy a new car, but it can offset some of those surprises which may or may not have some value to you.

First of all it's new with a warranty, which takes some headaches away regarding repairs and wear and tear for a few years for a set monthly cost.

You can usually wrap up a service plan into the monthly payments for a few quid a month, so for the next three years or so you are only really putting petrol in it, taxing it, insuring it and paying a set monthly payment.

Yes it costs more than buying outright with cash but not everyone is able to do that.

You could, if you aren't a snob, buy a new Dacia Sandero for less than £190 a month over 4 years with only using half your savings as a deposit on a 11k a year mileage contract.

That would get you a Bi fuel model, so if LPG is available in your area you would also cut down of fuel costs as it's only 80 odd pence a litre.